SPOT REDUCTION TRAINING

Until two years ago, let’s say before the publication of my book “The DietaCOM and localized weight loss”, by googling Spot Reduction, a number of correlated studies would appear which dealt with it in negative terms, supporting it was infeasible. Instead, at present the first five entries you get are:

• Spot Reduction in Wikipedia
• www.masssimospattini.it Spot reduction localized weight loss
• www.mypersonaltrainer.it Dr Luca Franzon, fitness circuit
• Spot Reduction – passion 4 work out
• AB work out: spot reduce your belly fat/ muscle & fitness

What happened? Besides the publication of my book, which I believe has contributed to bring this result about above all in Italy, an important study published in 2006 in the American Journal of Physiology by the University of Copenhagen in Holland has certainly played a fundamental role. The authors made some subjects perform leg extension exercises with one leg applying a light weight to it for 30 minutes consecutively. The researchers then measured the blood flux in the subcutaneous fat tissue both in the trained leg and in the leg at rest. The result was that the trained leg showed significantly higher blood flux and subcutaneous fat lipolysis compared with the leg at rest. In simple words, during the exercise, the adipose cells around the working out muscle released a greater quantity of fat in the blood flux, thus showing that the working out muscle was receiving a greater fat supply which was used as an energy source. These results suggest that when an exercise is performed, the fat of the body part which is being trained is preferably burnt. The matter is certainly more complex because, in order to obtain the best results, specifically structured training sessions should be appropriately carried out to exhaust glycogen in advance, associated to a diet with no carbohydrates and with an increase in fats – as suggested by Mc Donald L. in his book “The stubbornfatsolution”, 2008. This strategy is based on the fact that adrenergic stimulation due to training also reverberates on adipose tissue alpha2 receptors which are antilipolytic and also on the fact that body parts where fat accumulation is more likely to occur (above all the lower part of the body) particularly abound in them: a low-carb /high-fat diet can modify the beta2/alpha2 receptor ratio, inhibiting the latter. However, rather than dealing with this topic in this context which would require more space, I would like to propose two training sessions here. The first one, for women, comes from the fitness short-circuit – My personal trainer by Dr Luca Franzoni. This circuit has been defined P.H.S. which stands for P= Peripherical Heart Training (PHA) – H = High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T.) – S= Spot Reduction (S.R.). In this circuit the three beneficial effects of the above mentioned circuits can be summed. PHA improves blood flux circulation, avoids stagnation of liquids and trains cardiorespiratory system. H.I.I.T. increases EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption) and boosts metabolism also during recovery phase. Therefore, it intensifies weight loss also at rest. S.R. improves weight loss in those body parts where fat is more obstinate.

For men who wish to obtain the famous so-called six pack, in other words, sculpted abdominals, I recommend a specific training session for the abdomen which, rather than considering the number of exercises, must take time into account and should last about 30 minutes without interruption. At the end of the training session for the abdomen, at least 30 minutes of cardio exercises should be performed. As a cardio exercise I personally recommend one I invented, which I call ABScardio, that is a horizontal exercise gym bike performed stressing the traction rather than the stretching phase (this concept is probably clearer to those who practice bike racing, in which there is an alternation of the stretching and traction phase). It is a little like performing “knees to chin” exercises in which the abdominals are involved.

While performing this exercise, one must also perform a twist (torsion of the abdomen): taking simultaneously the right elbow towards the left knee which reaches the chest, thus stressing the oblique muscles. This training session must be carried out at least three times a week after routine training with weights or separately. In order to perform abdominal training for thirty minutes, a certain degree of training is obviously necessary. It can be reached gradually starting from 15 minutes and increasing 5 minutes a week to get to 30 minutes. The following is an example of a possible training session:

Each exercise must be repeated 20 times, in super set and completely:

– knees to chin exercises
– reverse crunch
– standard crunch
– oblique crunch
– woodchopper exercises
– side bridge

Repeat for a total of 30 minutes.

Accademia del Fitness-Wellness-Antiaging – October 2014